Stacey Smith
I'm a graduate student studying the molecular and biochemical evolution of HIV within patients and within populations. I also study epigenetic control of ERVs.
sa smith
Posts by this author
January 2, 2010
[rant on]
There are holes in SciBlogs*.
I usually dont notice them until I have a question that SciBlogs cant answer. I mean, we have a ton of super smart, super skeptical people here on just about every topic.
What I love about 'our people' is that we dont have to be experts on everything. I…
December 31, 2009
I have four blood-relative aunts. Three of them are math teachers. One is a respiratory therapist.
My dad is a math/science teacher. Mom was an accountant.
I have cousins that went into nursing, forensics, and 'organic chemistry'.
My brother is an engineer.
And Im a researcher.
Im mostly Russian…
December 23, 2009
Clinical trials for using pig cells to treat diabetes are now legal Down Under!
Most countries health/medical regulatory bodies have been hesitant to approve of animal organ/part transplants because of the risk of Creating Another HIV. Theoretically endogenous retroviruses still active in pigs (…
December 21, 2009
I dont purposefully watch Bravos 'Real Housewives' series.
I mean, if its on, I leave it on as background noise, I dont actively turn it off, umm...
*looks shadily back and forth*
Anyway, theyve got the series in Orange County, New Jersey, New York City, Atlanta-- I think they should do a version…
December 19, 2009
EEEEEEEEEW!
You will NEVER guess whos coming to *my* campus in January!
Robert P. George!
AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
You know who this guy is, even if you dont 'know' who he is-- he was one of the founders of 'National Organization for Marriage', of 'GATHERING STORM!' infamy.
The guy is a putrid…
December 17, 2009
Youll have to forgive me, folks. Im in the midst of writing a paper (*insert excited Peter Griffin gasp here*-- there are lots of open access virology journals, but I cant promise it).
Writing this paper has reminded me of a luxury we have in scientific research: we can be wrong.
Its bad when a…
December 11, 2009
Everyone reading ERV knows that Im a huge admirer of Richard Dawkins.
Not only is he a priceless modern voice for popularizing science, he was one of the first voices of Out Atheism. A voice for Atheists from Amsterdam to Alabama.
But as others have pointed out, Dawkins completely dropped the ball…
December 9, 2009
Burns Hargis.
If Burns Hargis were a gamer, hed be Leeroy Jenkins.
Hes a newb. He messed up. And its screwed over everyone.
Apparently Hargis admitted he 'messed up', personally deciding to reject NIH funds:
Hargis told faculty Thursday that he erred in not talking to OSU scientists before…
December 8, 2009
(this post is me laughing at Sternberg, intermittently talking about ERVs, ask Qs if Im not clear-- sorry, laughing so hard, must share this joke as well as I can between snorts)
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
AAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
RICHARD STERNBERG IS SO STUPID!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!…
December 7, 2009
I was having a virus discussion with a surgeon recently:
Me-- People think to do HIV-1 research you have to gown up in those crazy suits and do all this insane safety stuff, really, the only thing I do 'really' different is I wear *two* pairs of gloves, lol!
Her-- I always double glove too, but its…
December 2, 2009
I love it when a research paper makes me laugh.
This paper makes me laugh.
It is AWESOME!!
Continuous Quinacrine Treatment Results in the Formation of Drug-Resistant Prions
Okay, heres the deal: Prions cause disease by making 'normal' proteins fold wrong. When they fold wrong, they clump up…
December 1, 2009
David Bolenski and the folks at XVIVO (yes, the same folks you all know and love) made a cool animation depicting the life-cycle of influenza!
You can find the long, 'scientific' version here, or a simplified explanation for NPR here:
H/T to Optimus Primate!
Disclaimer for stupid Creationists that…
November 30, 2009
Quite possibly one of the weirdest things I have ever witnessed in my scientific career-- The president of Oklahoma State University has 'forbidden' an ethics panel approved, NIH funded research project on 'his' campus.
What kind of abominable research are these Satan worshiping scientists trying…
November 28, 2009
Right-wing pundits/Conservatives/the Usual Suspects hate how much money the government has spent/is spending on HIV/AIDS. "No one gets AIDS but homos and blacks, so why the hell is the government spending all this money on AIDS and not cancer?" (random example)
There is a pattern Im seeing in…
November 28, 2009
The reaction to the news that the Irish Catholic Church covered up (thus encouraged) the molestation and rape of children is odd.
At least odd to me.
Apologize? Quit using the titles 'Father' and 'Your Grace'?
Really?
The people involved in this disgusting tragedy (perpetrators and those who…
November 23, 2009
All of my research in undergrad was on corn.
All of it.
For classes, for labs, every lab-- corn. We were basically watching a gene become 'irreducibly complex' in shoot apical meristems... I mean, it was definitely cool, its just that I couldnt eat corn for years (Im over it now, but I dunno how…
November 22, 2009
Invasive species suck.
Humans intentionally or unintentionally introduce some organism into a new environment... and shit hits the fan. Whether its zebra mussels in the Great Lakes or rabbits in Australia, invasive species wreak havoc on their 'new homes'.
There are lots of reasons for this, but…
November 20, 2009
I am so pissed off. I didnt get out of the lab until quarter till 6 tonight, so there was no friggen way I could get down to OU to see Barker (feed/potty Arnie, feed/potty me, 15 mph on I-35... I would have gotten there by the time his presentation was over. Why the hell is it that on Friday…
November 19, 2009
I hate how the 'new' Technorati doesnt let you see everyone whos linked to you. Sometimes, smaller blogs with less traffic write a neat post and link to me, but I dont 'see' the post unless I happen to catch one of their readers clicking to me on SiteMeter.
*FROWNY FACE AT TECHNORATI*
I just…
November 18, 2009
Hi Bill!
I think Ive figured out why youve been... unresponsive... to the Skeptical communitys efforts to educate you on vaccines.
All the people addressing you have been cranky old men.
Apparently you dont swing that way.
I hearby offer to give you a personal crash-course in immunology, virology,…
November 16, 2009
100 years ago, American Chestnut trees grew up and down the East coast. Great wood, nommy nuts, awesome! Unfortunately, an epidemic of an Asian fungus, Cryphonectria parasitica, basically wiped them out.
Asian Chestnut trees are resistant to the Asian fungus, so theoretically we could 'save' the…
November 15, 2009
Dan Barker of the Freedom From Religion Foundation is going to be speaking at OU this Friday!
November 20
6:30 pm
Dale Hall
I-35 is Hell in the evening rush hour (last time I went to Norman we were going 15 mph. on an interstate. RAAAAAAGE!!), plus its a Friday, so all you OKCers make sure you…
November 13, 2009
A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, 'visionary' scientists like Francis Collins thought 'genetic diseases' were coming to an end. Because they believed in 'OGOD', 'one gene, one disease' (lol, *blink*), they were sure identifying 'disease' genes would... somehow... give us the ability to…
November 10, 2009
X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-linked ALD) is a demyelination disease in little boys. The kids are usually dead before they hit adolescence.
:(
The demyelination mechanism is not the same as the demyelination disease you all have heard of, MS. With X-linked ALD, the kids dont have a functional…
November 6, 2009
Though only a handful of ERV readers are from Oklahoma, I know all of you are familiar with the handiwork of Senator Randy Brogdon.
He was the fellow who recently tried to get Creationism taught in Oklahoma public schools (FAIL).
Dude is a fucking IDiot (and just plain old idiot) who hates science…
November 4, 2009
Professor Santiago Elena, one of the profs who presented at the Viral Evolution conference I went to last fall, is featured in a nifty video about watching evilution in action!
Evolution of Life: Evolution before our eyes
Just like I use evilution in the lab to understand the population dynamics…
November 3, 2009
Vpu has kinda been my accessory protein of choice here at ERV, but its not the only one with a super cool evolutionary history and super cool evolutionary implications.
Another particularly fun one is Nef.
This eeeeeeeety bitty HIV-1 protein (27 kDa) has a lot on its plate. Contrary to the '…
November 1, 2009
Im going to be speaking about one of the many ways I use evilution in the lab-- HIV-1 vaccine design!
If youre around OU tomorrow, come check out as many talks as you can!
October 28, 2009
Im not gonna lie.
We got a lot of shit to put up with in Oklahoma.
Batshit insane politicians trying to ban scientists from the state, make federally funded research illegal, hold up HIV/AIDS funding for personal religious reasons, post medical identifiers of women who have abortions online... yeah…
October 27, 2009
I dont know if I can think of anyone who gets everything wrong, so consistently.
Okay, sure he gets the Creationism thing wrong. Whatevs.
He also makes unwise financial decisions. Who doesnt, these days?
No, get this, dude cant even pick a charity without fucking up! A charity to help stop puppy…